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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

50th High School Reunion

I got the post card months ago.Save the date.Check our website.

I did the latter immediately. It has the old yearbook and a listing of classmates who have died. I knew my best friend died several years ago and I knew of a few more gone.I was surprised at the long list that included my best friend.I did reflect that I was extremely fortunate that I did not join the list of departed just a year ago, with that massive stroke.But I didn’t; here I am, pleased to still be around and in reasonable shape.I looked over the pictures from the 40th reunion.How “age progressed” everyone looked!Of course, the only reunion I attended was the 15th, with Judy, my crazy best friend. She wore her mother-in-law’s fox and worked the room.I chatted with ever so many people who wanted to impress me with how well they were doing.My high school boyfriend introduced me to his pretty young wife and told her how we got engaged with a Cracker Jack ring.Henry and I laughed; she didn’t.Judy and I came from Cleveland to Akron for that reunion.It was like a different universe.No one was remotely interested in how or what I was doing doing.Except Judy (and Henry), the people I hung out with in high school weren’t at that reunion.Maybe the 10th did them in.

I stuck the card several months ahead in the calendar and forgot about it.When I came up on it in June or July, I tossed it.Then they tracked me down on that Facebook account and I got e-mails.I “friended” one who might be in touch with a class mate I sadly had lost touch with.As it turns out, they weren’t in touch.And, she wanted a bio.She wanted a better picture than the one on Facebook.She wanted to know why I didn’t return her e-mails.She told me how much she knew about me already, for the bio, just by Googling.That was a revelation!I Googled myself and there were three pages of me,including the stroke, thanks to get well wishes in our community paper, which is on line.Worst of all were the far right political posts, links and emails.I left that world, literally fifty years ago. Hard to believe someone just makes those assumptions about a person they don’t know.

Oh, well. I “unfriended.”I blocked sender. I may check out the 50th reunion pictures some day, if my password isn’t changed. And, in honor of my 50th anniversary of graduating high school, I nicked my senior picture right off that web site to post here. Check out this age progression:

I told an antique dealer friend about those glasses once.“Oh, lordy, girl.You still have them?You know what they’re worth!”